


Gray, The Demon Slayer

by natsubeatsrock



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Gen, ftezbb2021
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29219181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natsubeatsrock/pseuds/natsubeatsrock
Summary: A monster plagues the borders of Isvan. Their best bet seems to be a boy from the mountains with a dream and a lot to be desired in combat experience. Will he be able to kill the beast?
Relationships: Gray Fullbuster/Ultear Milkovich
Collections: Mashima's Heroes Big Bang





	1. Chapter 1

"Let him in."

"Your majesty."

The doors swung open and the guards led a teenage boy into the throne room. As they entered the room, they all knelt before the throne room.

"What is your name, boy?"

"Gray", he replied. "Gray Fullbuster."

"Fullbuster," she repeated to herself. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"Your majesty," a nearby attendant replied. "Perhaps you're thinking of Corporal Silver Fullbuster."

"Corporal Fullbuster?" The queen recognized the name but knew very little of the officer. Could this possibly be his child?

She continued to speak to Gray. "It's not so often that one so young as yourself requests an audience with the queen. I've heard you've caused our court officials quite a large deal of trouble. Even as I do not approve of your actions, I feel as though I ought to commend you for your boldness."

"Your... majesty," he responded, hoping she wouldn't notice the red flush over his face as he continued to face downward.

"However", the queen continued, "I feel as though your request has come at a particularly vexing time. My scouts have discovered the presence of a … let's say, an unwanted pest, roaming our borders. I've sent some of Isvan's best warriors to try and take care of it, but none of them seemed to be able to succeed. Worse still, only a few of them have seen it and lived. I've lost some of our best soldiers in this effort.

"So, I want to ask you a question, Gray. What is it that you believe is of such importance that you must pull us away for an audience?"

Gray responded, "Your majesty, I believe that we may have common interests."

"Is that so?" she asked.

"I have heard about our unwanted pest troubles and believe that I can help you take care of the issue."

"Really now?" the queen asked.

"I was hoping to gain your permission to slay the beast."

Had she not been looking into his eyes, she would have thought him to be joking.

"Tell me, Gray," she said, "Where did you find out about our little pest issue? Unless you've only just heard about it and came for other reasons."

"Your majesty," he responded, "as strange as it may sound, I heard of the beast in a dream."

"A dream, you say?"

"For the past month, regardless of what my dream may be about, there has been a girl with long black hair in it. And recently, she has been warning me to come to the palace and ask to kill a beast."

"A girl with black hair?" she murmured to herself. "He couldn't mean…" She needed to investigate the matter further.

"Tell me, Gray," she asked. "Are you sure the same girl with black hair has been appearing in your dreams every night and not different young girls with black hair?"

"It has been the same girl, your majesty."

"Do you have a description of what she looks like?"

"Your majesty," he replied, "she looked very similar to you."

 _So it must have been her_ , the queen realized. _Though, why would she send for him?_ That, she decided, would have to wait for another time.

"And what experience do you have that may help you in dealing with our special intruder?"

"Your majesty, while I admit to having little in the way of dealing with this special brand of an intruder, I have had my encounters with the various beasts that have tried to come and attack my family. I'm sure it will meet the same fate as them."

"Really now? " she mused. "And what type of weapon do you use to get rid of them?"

"Usually, I just use whatever tool is closest to us, be it an ice pick or a hammer and chisel or an ax."

"I see..."

"However, I have come across a sword that I believe my father used to use."

"Your father? By any chance, he wouldn't happen to be Silver Fullbuster, would he?"

"He is, your majesty," he replied. "But, how do you-"

"Your father has been serving us as a corporal for the Royal Isvan Army."

"Really," he mused. "The last I heard from him, he said he was working to make the world safe for me and my mother. He had always been a great fighter and I assumed he was scouring the world to fight its greatest monsters."

"If you consider some of the enemies at our borders, our unwanted pest notwithstanding, I can't say you are as far off as you believe," the queen joked. "Though, I am curious. You speak of a sword and do not seem to have one with you."

"Your majesty, " he replied, "I was unsure whether or not I would be allowed an audience with you with the story I have told you. I assumed that coming with any weapon would decrease my chances for an audience. And…"

"And?"

"I would have trouble traveling to the palace if I had to travel the whole way with my father's greatsword. While I have been training myself to carry and use it, I still do not have enough confidence in my abilities to make the trip with it."

The Queen thought about his words for a moment. Up to this moment, she assumed that, if he had a weapon, it would be a simple sword or bow and arrow. However, he was in the possession of a great sword and had been working to use it. A greatsword is a two-handed blade that was longer and wider than the average sword. If he truly was working to master it, then perhaps…

"Gray Fullbuster."

"Your majesty."

"Where exactly did you come from?"

"I live near the base of Beige Mountain."

"I can understand why you would feel wary about the journey. At the same time, I cannot praise you for your actions. It is unbecoming of a warrior not to have their weapon with them."

"Does that mean-"

"It means that I am willing to give you a chance. I can tell by your actions and our conversation that you certainly are motivated to do this. However, I will need more than a tale of dreams and slain beasts to know your skill, especially if you intend to throw yourself at this monster. 

"Therefore, I have a test for you. You are to report here three months from now with your father's greatsword and the tongues of one hundred mountain Vulcans. If you are able to succeed, then I will take your offer more seriously."

"And if I fail?"

"For your sake, I would focus on trying not to fail."

"Your majesty."

"Of course," she continued, "if you are able to succeed, it may be a great help to me. The less our neighbors know about this, the better position our kingdom is in."

"I will not let you down."

"I would hope not," she replied. "Though, I have heard many before you utter those exact words and not all of them have succeeded. Keep that in mind. You are dismissed."

With the queen's permission, Gray left the throne room to complete his mission. After the door closed behind him, the queen's attendant spoke up. "Your majesty, it sounds as if… she is involved in this."

"She almost definitely is," the queen sighed, grabbing the bridge of her nose.

"If that is the case," he continued, "why send the young man on a mission he may not come back from?"

"If he truly intends to go after this monster plaguing our kingdom, he will need more time to prepare himself. I do not wish to throw a mere child at it unprepared and unqualified. If he cannot fulfill a task as simple as this, then he has no chance against a much bigger threat.

But, if she really is involved in this, then he has nothing to worry about."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been about two days since Gray climbed Beige Mountain. He had less than three months to find and kill one hundred Mountain Vulcans if he wanted a shot at receiving the queen's aide.

Unfortunately, he had yet to find any Vulcans.

As far as he knew, Vulcans were not a herd species. However, there was a sense of honor between the species. If they can tell that one of their kind was hurt or killed by someone else, they would eventually gang up on the one responsible, be it a person, animal, or some other monster. Theoretically, all Gray would have to do is find and kill one Vulcan. The rest of them would likely start coming to him. At that point, it’s a matter of being able to defeat as many as are necessary.

Of course, that was dependent on him finding one in the first place. Vulcans were something of an elusive species. They weren’t exactly rare, but it wasn’t common to simply stumble on one. One would have to be rather lucky - or unlucky, depending on the circumstances - to happen upon one in the wild. 

Ready or not, Gray got his wish as a Vulcan came before him.

"Well, look at what we have here," it taunted. "A wannabe hero."

"I can see why she wanted their tounges," Gray muttered under his breath, reaching behind him for his sword. He struggled to grab it from its hold on his back. Once he did, he was barely able to lift the heavy two-handed weapon.

"It looks to me like you've bitten off more than you can chew," it hooted. "Maybe you should head back down to your mommy and get some hairs on your chest before you start something you can't finish."

It wasn't as if there was no substance to these taunts. Gray was still hilariously inexperienced with the greatsword. He had started to practice swinging the sword to get used to the motions of using the sword, but he still struggled with getting it off the ground, let alone moving it in the air. At this stage, he was simply dragging the sword on the ground and swinging it up as he needed to. If the beast intended to be merciful, he would be wise to take its mercy.

Of course, he wasn't entirely sure if this was mercy or some kind of trap. Even if it weren't a trap, this was how he was to prove himself to the queen. If he came down the mountain without the hundred Vulcan tounges…

He didn't want to think about what that would mean.

"That's funny", he replied. "I didn't know Vulcans were smart enough to themselves."

The Vulcan didn't take too kindly to his words.

"Don't say I didn't give you an out," it yelled as it charged Gray.

He thought to swat at it with his sword as it came close to him. He lifted the sword in front of him as the beast came closer. Unfortunately, his arms gave out as the beast neared him. He was unable to lift it back up as it knocked him away from his weapon. 

Gray landed in the opposite direction his sword landed. He was going to try to grab the sword, but the beast started to rush him again. He knew he didn’t have much time to act. He started to frantically search the ground around him for something he could use to defend himself. As the beast came close to him, he felt a loose branch covered by the snow. 

As the beast lunged at him once more, he shoved the stick into the beast’s eye. It howled in pain as it covered the wounded eye. Gray took this opportunity to recover his sword.

“My eye!” it screamed. “You’re going to pay for that, you little brat!”

Gray didn’t respond. For one, he didn’t want to give the Vulcan a way to find him, especially with his wounded eyesight. For another, it took him more energy than he was willing to admit just to drag the sword from off the ground. He wasn’t sure how much he had in him to finish the fight. He needed to end it and fast.

The Vulcan rushed him for the third time, but this time Gray was prepared. He also rushed the beast, dragging his sword along with him. Just as they drew close to each other, Gray swerved towards the side of the wounded Vulcan’s eye. Before it could realize what happened, he swung his sword and slashed at its side. He cut out a large gash in the beast, causing it to double over. 

It howled in pain, even louder than before, as Gray was behind it. With all of his might, he lifted the sword above his head and thrust it through the middle of its chest. Almost at once, its howling ended and it laid on the floor, soling the ground with its blood.

Gray’s breathing became slower and harder as he waited to confirm its death. When he was sure that the Vulcan was dead, he pulled the sword out of its back. He figured he had done enough work for one day. Placing the sword to the side, he went to its head to pull out its tongue. As he struggled to yank it out, an annoying thought came to his mind.

“Only 99 to go,” he sighed, finally pulling it out. Now, he just needed to put the tongue in his bag and head back down the mountain before-

“Well, look what we have here,” a voice called out to him.

Gray shuddered at the thought of its source. He knew what it had to be, but hoped that he was wrong. Turning around, his fears were confirmed.

Yet another Vulcan.

“This is going to be a long three months, huh,” he sighed, grabbing his sword to enter yet another battle.

\-------

“Let me see if I understand you properly,” Queen Ur said with an annoyed tone of voice. “Our arrangement was for you to come back with the tongues of one hundred Vulcans in three months, correct.”

“Yes, your majesty,” Gray answered.

“It has been three months since our first meeting, has it not?”

“Your majesty, I can explain-”

“Explain why it is that you have come back without one hundred Vulcan tongues?”

“Yes... actually,” he answered with trepidation.

The queen sighed as she grabbed the bridge of her nose. She figured it wouldn’t hurt to indulge the boy. “Go on,” she replied, annoyed at his insolence.

Gray started his explanation, “When you gave me the task, I wasn’t entirely sure what was the purpose of it. I knew that Vulcans attacked those who harmed their comrades, so I figured it would be a matter of endurance. Would I be able to defeat these beasts and live? Something along those lines to test my potential to kill the monster we’re dealing with.

“But, that couldn’t be it. When I first came to you, you told me it was wrong not to come here with my great sword. My only experience when I came to you was whatever monsters came in front of me.

I was still uncomfortable carrying it around, let alone swinging it. My first few kills were more personal bouts of endurance. In many ways, I was fighting myself as much as I was fighting with the Vulcans.

“But, after about a month, I noticed that I had grown much more comfortable with the sword. It wasn’t a burden for me to walk with it, lift it upright, or swing it at my enemies. That’s when I realized. This wasn’t just a matter of proving my own worth. This was also about helping me grow into a much more capable fighter."

"Really now, " the queen replied.

"Fighting against the Vulcans got me to think about strategies, how to fight against bigger opponents, how to use my sword creatively, and the like. These past few months have been better training for killing the monster than I could have amounted on my own.”

“I’m impressed by your deductive abilities,” the queen mused. “You’ve accurately described my purposes in giving this task. However, that does not excuse the fact that you failed to come with 100 Vulcan tongues. I would have hoped that, if you were able to come to such conclusions, you would have been able to find and kill 100 Vulcans.”

“I did.”

“W-what?” she asked.

“I was able to kill 100 Vulcans, as was our agreement.”

The queen was confused by this statement. “But- how did- wh- Earlier, you told me that you weren’t able to kill 100 Vulcans.”

“What I said was that I haven’t come with 100 Vulcan tongues,” Gray clarified. “In fact, I was able to well over that many. It took me two months to kill 100 Vulcans and collect their tongues. When I finally killed my 100th Vulcan, I figured there would be no harm in killing a few more. A few more became a lot more. By the time I had to come back, I had killed an extra 100 Vulcans."

The Queen could hardly believe what she heard him say. She motioned for two of her attendants to check the count. As they sorted the tongues, she couldn't help but admire his weapon.

"Your sword, " she remarked. "I haven't seen a weapon like it." 

She expected the sword to be like other greatswords - relatively thin, metal and pointed at the tip. While the great sword was not the weapon of choice for most soldiers, she had seen her fair share of greatswords. Gray's weapon was different. To start, it looked less like a metal weapon and more like a sculpture made of ice. The whole thing was clear as if cut from the same material. It was much wider than other greatswords and it was rounded around its tip. 

It made sense that he had trouble using it at first. It looked like it weighed much more than any normal weapon should, even a greatsword. She could hardly believe that he was able to use it. If he really was able to kill 200 Vulcans with it…

"I could hardly believe my father would leave something like this behind, " Gray spoke up. "Though it took me a while to get used to it, so it's not like I don't get why he would leave it."

She asked, "Do you have a name for it?"

"I didn't see a name written anywhere on the sword, but I'm thinking… Cold Excalibur."

"Cold Excalibur, huh?"

"Your majesty, " one of the attendants called. "We counted the tongues up and… it seems that he's telling the truth. There are 200 full Vulcan tongues here."

Queen Ur was beside herself. Not only had he understood the true purposes for his quest. He completed it and far exceeded her request and expectations in doing so. It felt more and more that he would be able to defeat the monster on their borders. 

She rose from her throne and walked towards Gray. When she was finally in front of him, she said, "Stand up, Gray Fullbuster."

He smiled at the queen's command. She had recognized his skill. He got up from his kneeling position and awaited more praise from-

The queen smacked him across the face and sent him flying across the room. He landed into his collection of Vulcan tongues.

"I'll admit that your success is impressive, " she told him, as he started to collect himself. "But you still have a lot to learn before you'll be ready. So I'm willing to make you an offer."

"What is it?" he asked, rubbing his sore cheek.

"I'll allow you to stay here to train for the fight against the monster plaguing the borders. When we receive word of its whereabouts, I will send you to fight the beast. What do you say?"

"I'd love to take the offer… but, my mother-"

"What if I allowed you to visit your mother twice a month? In addition to receiving a portion of your earnings, she would also be exempt from taxes."

"I- I guess I have to take you up on your offer,” he replied. “But I’ll only be here training?”

“No, I have a bit more planned for you. While you aren’t training, you will serve as a retainer for the princess.”

“W-we have a princess?” Gray asked. “You have a daughter?”

“I have gone to great lengths to keep the knowledge and identity of the princess a secret from the public.” 

With that, she sent the summons for the princess to enter the throne room. As the princess entered the throne room, Gray’s eyes widened and he felt his jaw loosen from its sockets.

“Gray Fullbuster, allow me to introduce you to Ultear Milkovich, princess of Isvan.”

As he looked at the young woman, who didn’t look too far from his own age, he was consumed by only one thought.

“You.”


	3. Chapter 3

It had been eight months since Gray had been invited to the royal palace. Part of Gray had started to grow restless. The fact that he was still here meant that they had yet to find anything about the beast that they could use to locate it so he could kill it. That the purpose behind near a full year worth of training and preparation seemed to be out of reach annoyed him to no end.

That being said, his time wasn’t entirely terrible. He greatly enjoyed his time serving as a retainer for the princess. He had no prior experience or knowledge as to what a retainer was supposed to do or act like. But Princess Ultear did not seem to have serious concerns or needs. It helped that they didn’t leave the palace. Anything they could have possibly needed from outside the palace was brought to them by other palace attendants.

Of course, there was something else that worried him. There was something that looked familiar about the princess. It wasn’t just a matter of looking like her mother, Queen Ur. There was something else going on. She bore a striking resemblance to the woman that was in his dreams. The same dreams that set him on this course in the first place.

There was no real way for him to ask her if or what she knew about this. Ever since first coming to the palace and receiving the mission to Beige Mountain, he had stopped receiving those types of dreams. He didn’t know have a great way to bring up dreaming about her in a way that felt natural.

However, his opportunity would come today. There was something different about the princess today. She was more wistful than normal, lost in her own thoughts. Almost as if something was bothering her.

“Is something bothering you, your majesty,” he asked.

“Oh,” she sighed, “I had the strangest dream, last night.”

“A-a dream?”

Gray couldn’t see it, but a sly smile started to form on Ultear’s face. “Yes.”

“W-well maybe, it would help if you talk about it.”

“I suppose,” she sighed. “I saw a tower, in the middle of the ocean.”

“Was the tower very tall?”

“Enormous.”

“Okay, then what happened?”

“Out of nowhere, there was a flash in the sky and a large beam of light came down on the tower almost destroying it.”

“A beam of light that can destroy things? I’ve never heard of anything like that. What happened to the tower?”

“When the light disappeared, there was a giant crystal structure in its place. That’s when I woke up.”

“Giant crystal structure, huh? Did the crystals look like the same material my sword is?”

“No, the crystals looked more… active.”

“Active? What does that mean?”

“I’m not sure that I’d be able to explain it to you if I tried.”

“Okay then,” he chuckled.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“What do you mean by that?” 

“What do you think the dream meant?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I don’t know that the dream has to mean something.”

“You don’t believe the dreams have meanings?”

“No, I do believe that some dreams can have meaning, but I don’t-”

“What about you?” the princess asked, facing her retainer.

“W-what do you mean?” he replied, uncomfortable with how close she was to him.

“Have you ever had a dream that you felt meant something?”

“Well, it’s funny you should mention that,” he replied taking a step back. “It was almost a year ago, that I started to have this weird dream. It was a young woman asking for help with a beast plaguing our kingdom. At first, I thought it was weird. But I kept having the same dream over and over. After about a month, I figured that it wasn’t a coincidence. To make a long story short, it was because of that dream that I’m here today.”

“The woman in your dream,” she asked, “what was she like?”

Gray had to choose his words carefully. He didn’t think it was a good idea to come out and say that she looked just like she did. “She had long black hair and wore a white flowing dress.”

“Was she pretty?” she asked.

“Y-yes”, he sheepishly answered. In truth, she was stunning, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. However, he didn’t know whether to say that outright. He didn’t know if it would be the right thing to say given-

“Between her and me, who would you say was more beautiful?”

This was when Gray knew something was up. Part of him realized that the princess knew more than she was leading on. There was some connection between her and the woman in his dreams. If anything, it was likely that they were the same person. He should ask her.

Unfortunately, the rest of him was struggling to find an answer to her question. He couldn’t think of a good answer to give to her. Did it really matter which one of them was more beautiful? Could he get away with saying that they looked the same? Worse, could he say that one of them looked better than the other when they looked like they could be twins if they somehow were not the same person.

Though the princess seemed to have fun watching him stammer for an answer, she offered him mercy. “On second thought,” she chuckled, “that might be an unfair question for me to ask you. After all, it’s been close to a year since you had that dream, huh?”

Gray laughed the comment off, thankful that he didn’t have to answer. But as he started to collect himself, he knew he had to ask the question.

“Princess, I-I need to ask-”

“Gray!” a voice yelled for him. “It’s the time!”

Gray groaned both at the timing of this call and the prospect of what was coming next. "I guess we'll have to continue this conversation some other time."

"I guess we will. See you later, Gray."

"Until later, Princess." As he left, he made sure to greet the man who was to take his watch. "Keep her safe, Lyon."

"Of course, " he replied, "what do you take me for?" Gray rolled his eyes as he left them.

As part of his agreement, he was to train at the palace until the queen's scouts were able to pin its location down. When he agreed, he figured he would be training under one of the royal guard leaders. Perhaps she would be able to string things together to get his father to train him.

He never would have guessed that his trainer would be Queen Ur herself. After being flung across a room, he figured she was a strong woman. However, he never would have thought of her to be a skilled fighter, especially as a royal.

In fact, the king before her decided that the rulers of the kingdom ought to be skilled in the ways of fighting. After all, if they find themselves in a position where the royal attendants and retainers are incapacitated or worse, it would be helpful to have some ability to defend themselves. While she was trained in multiple weapons, her weapon of choice was the mace.

Naturally, he asked if Princess Ultear had received such training. The Queen gave a rather puzzling response: "The princess has had basic weapon training. However, she has other ways of defending herself." He had no idea what that could mean. Did this connect to his dreams?

He rarely had the time to ask further about this. Not for lack of meetings with the Queen. In fact, it was because of his meetings. He trained daily with her in preparation for his fight as the Princess was guarded by Lyon. 

Their sessions were painful. At first, they were simple hour-long drills through the use of his greatsword. Within a couple of weeks, the sessions became longer and included the kinds of exercises that were used to prepare soldiers. As the Queen sensed Gray was getting used to exercises, she would swap them out for more intense exercises. Just as he would start to think that things were getting easier, their sessions would get extended.

After a few months, the queen started to add the toughest part of their training: one-on-one sparring. Gray figured that he had faced his toughest opponents at Beige Mountain. Now, he would rather fight a dozen Vulcans at once than face the Queen. She was a dangerously skilled fighter. Unlike the beasts, she picked up on every mistake he made and used it against him. Whenever he thought he found an opening, he found himself promptly defeated.

Part of him knew that she was holding back. If not by not using her full strength, it was by not trying to kill him. After all, the purpose of these fights was to prepare him for the battle against the beast. He couldn't do that if he was dead. The Queen knew this and wouldn't plan to jeopardize her supposed best bet as dealing with the beast in their kingdom. 

However, the fact that he struggled against her while she wasn't exerting her full abilities terrified him.

At least, it did at first.

As they sparred more and more, he was able to refine his movements, minimize his errors and find more openings. It started to seem as though he had more of a chance against the Queen. The gap between them that seemed so insurmountable started to close smaller and smaller. He could feel it.

Queen Ur could feel it as well. Their times started to be marked by fewer and fewer drills and more and more sparring. Eventually, their entire training started to consist of sparring sessions that would last for hours without breaks.

Today, Gray got the closest he ever had to best the Queen. He thought he finally had her on the ropes. He was finally ready to make his move and win for the first-

“Your Majesty!” an attendant yelled, running into the room they were sparring in.

“What?” Gray yelled at the attendant, frustrated at his interruption.

Queen Ur used the opportunity to knock Gray off his feet and onto his back. She stepped over him and began to speak to the attendant, “I believe that I have been clear in my instructions over the past few months. Do not interrupt me while I am training the boy.”

“Your Majesty,” the attendant stammered, “We received an update that- you must read this immediately.” 

He held up a scroll for the queen to take and read. One look at the scroll told her all that she needed to know. The message came directly from one of her scouts. Given the look of the scroll and its lack of a seal, it was from a battlefield scout. The attendant’s urgency likely meant it could mean one thing.

As she read the message, Gray struggled to get up from the ground. It was frustrating to know he was so close to victory and still lost. If he was given just a minute more, he could have won. But he was determined to win today.

“All right,” he said, finally getting up from the ground. “Let me know when you’re ready to continue.”

“We’re not going to continue.”

Gray was confused by her words. “What?’

“It seems that we’ve figured out the whereabouts of the beast in our borders,” she said.

Gray understood what this meant. He was finally going to have his chance to defeat the monster, the thing he prepared himself for almost a year. Part of him wished that he was able to defeat the queen before he had the chance to fight the beast. Still, he couldn’t deny that he had been waiting for this day to come. He didn’t know how exactly to feel.

But he could tell that something was off about this announcement. He couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but the queen was troubled by the news. “Is something wrong, your highness?” he asked.

“It’s where the beast was found that is troubling,” she replied, not turning to look at him.

“Is it somewhere far from here? That might make it difficult for us to-”

“No,” she replied. “It isn’t too far from the palace.”

This troubled Gray greatly. “Where... is it?”

The queen lifted her head and turned to Gray before saying the words that would make his heart drop. “Beige Mountain.”


End file.
